It’s the real world in the classroom

Escondido high school students start on careers, college as they produce actual products

Rafael Maldonado (left) and Jordan Sams, students in the Virtual Enterprise class at Escondido High School, prepare a vinyl banner to be used in for the student-run Cougar Market, a farmers market held on campus.
— Howard Lipin

Rafael Maldonado (left) and Jordan Sams, students in the Virtual Enterprise class at Escondido High School, prepare a vinyl banner to be used in for the student-run Cougar Market, a farmers market held on campus.
— Howard Lipin

ESCONDIDO  Sara Martinez signed up for Automotive Technology at Escondido High School because she thought it looked fun, and she wanted to learn how to change a tire. Now, she can change a tire and calculate the amount of power in a battery.

Students in the spotlight

College, Career & Technical Education Showcase

What: Escondido Union High School District students displaying work from career programs, such as culinary arts, graphic arts and marketing. The district also will have information booths and displays on Del Lago Academy, the new high school set to open in 2013; Learning Centers; the MAP college admission program; and independent study options.

Sara Martinez (left) and Guadalupe Vargas, students in the Automotive Technology class at Escondido High School, sort automotive fasteners while learning about their purpose.
— Howard Lipin

Josh Smith didn’t know what to expect when he started the Virtual Enterprise class. Then he was hired as the vice president of advertising and serves as the lead graphic designer for Cougar Custom Banners, one of two businesses that the class runs.

“They’re producing a real product for a real client,” said teacher Curtis Ziegler, whose students also run Custom Cougar Tees. “If there’s a mistake, there’s waste.”

Times have changed when it comes to auto shop and home economics in the Escondido Union High School District.

“It’s not just about learning a trade,” spokeswoman Karyl O’Brien said of the district’s College, Career & Technical Education program.

The district has been committed to job skills education for years. About three years ago, it added a “college” emphasis to the program “to convey the message that we’re trying to get students ready for both college and career,” said Dominick Gagliardi, principal of the district’s adult education and CCTE programs.

College, Career & Technical Education classes integrate technical and academic skills with the goal of helping students succeed when they enter college, a trade school or the work force.

“It opens doors for not just learning a skill and exploring careers, but definitely scholarship opportunities, employment opportunities and networking opportunities,” O’Brien said.

And, taking a class like fashion design or culinary arts also may simply help prevent a teen from dropping out.

“Another important factor of (CCTE) is that many times students lose interest in high school, but they find the one program in career technical education that they really like, and it keeps them in school,” Gagliardi said.

For career technical education standards, the state identified 15 “industry sectors” — each with two or more career pathways — considered essential to the economy.